High-Leverage Practices That Are Making a Difference in Schools

Over the past year, our team at Stetson & Associates has had the opportunity to connect with educators and leaders across the country through conferences, national webinar series, and our work directly alongside districts.

Across these settings, a consistent set of challenges continues to emerge. More importantly, we are also seeing a clear set of high-leverage practices that, when implemented with intention, lead to meaningful improvements for systems, for staff, and most importantly, for students.

This message is meant to do three things:

• Highlight key priorities we believe are making the greatest difference in schools today
• Share how we support districts in addressing these challenges
• Provide practical tools you can use immediately to support your work

What We’re Seeing Across Districts

Through program evaluations, staffing audits, and classroom observations, four common challenges consistently surface.

1. Rethinking Staffing: Doing More with What You Have

Many districts feel increasing pressure to hire more staff. However, what we often find is that the challenge is not simply about numbers; it’s about how existing staff are utilized.

Common issues include:

• Lack of role clarity
• Misalignment between staff assignments and student needs
• Inefficient scheduling structures
• Over-reliance on “adult proximity” instead of effective instruction

In many cases, schools can improve outcomes without adding staff by aligning roles, clarifying expectations, and using personnel more strategically.

Download: Eight Questions to Ask to Ensure Effective Staffing for Special Education Students

2. Strengthening the Role of Paraeducators

Paraeducators are essential to inclusive classrooms, but too often their roles are underdefined or underutilized. Through focus groups and collaborative planning, we help districts:

• Clarify expectations for paraeducators
• Strengthen collaboration with teachers
• Build sustainable support models that increase student access and independence

Download: Paraeducators: Fact or Fiction?

3. Building Shared Ownership for All Students

One of the most significant barriers to progress is the lack of shared ownership across general and special education. When responsibility for students is divided:

• Referral rates increase
• Expectations decrease
• Instructional alignment weakens

This often leads to a fragmented system where students experience separate (and unequal) learning opportunities. Creating a culture of shared ownership requires intentional structures, leadership, and ongoing collaboration.

Download: Shared Responsibility Gallery Walk Activity

4. Improving Instruction to Improve Outcomes

At the core of nearly every challenge we see is a fundamental issue: instruction. When high-quality, research-based instructional practices are not consistently implemented:

• Students struggle to access the general education curriculum
• Referrals to special education increase
• Outcomes for students with disabilities decline

Strong Tier 1 instruction, paired with effective specially designed instruction, creates access, improves outcomes, and reduces unnecessary barriers for students.

Client Spotlight: Mission Avenue Elementary School

Connecting These Challenges to Accountability

In some districts, these challenges are not just instructional, they are systemic and urgent. We often partner with districts facing:

• Declining performance for students receiving special education services
• Increased scrutiny or monitoring
• Concerns related to accreditation or accountability

Our approach is focused and practical:

• Identify current instructional and systemic practices
• Collaborate with leadership to set achievable, high-impact goals
• Provide coaching and modeling for leaders and educators
• Establish simple, clear processes to measure progress and impact

The goal is sustainable improvement in practice and outcomes.

Moving Forward

Every district is navigating competing priorities, limited resources, and increasing expectations. But the work becomes more manageable and more impactful when efforts are focused on the right levers.

If any of these challenges resonate with your current work, we encourage you to explore the tools shared above and consider how they might support your next steps.

If you would like to learn more about how we partner with districts across the country to support systems change, leadership development, and instructional improvement, I welcome the opportunity to connect!

Dr. Frances Stetson
President & CEO
Stetson & Associates, Inc.
fstetson@stetsonassociates.com